The Business School of Soochow University received the official email from the AACSB Initial Accreditation Committee on 11 February 2023, confirming that the school’s Eligibility Application (EA) report was reviewed and approved by the committee. This marks the entry of the Business School to the formal accreditation stage of AACSB, and it is another major milestone after the school became a member of AACSB and its Unit Application (UA) request was acknowledged.

The eligibility application process involves a review of a school in order to determine whether it meets the eligibility criteria for pursuing AACSB accreditation. An Eligibility Application (EA) report usually includes the vision and mission, development strategy, programs, faculty, students, impact, etc. Since its UA was approved in July 2022, the Business School of Soochow University, on the basis of clarifying its mission and vision of the school and formulating its strategic plan, with the concern and support from the leading group and the joint efforts of the entire faculty of the school, further strengthened the administrative support, collected and analyzed the relevant data, and integrated all the information required in the EA process.

Next, the business school will carefully interpret the AACSB accreditation norms and evaluation standards, further integrate resources around its mission, vision and strategic plan, and implement continuous improvement plans in the fields of discipline construction, faculty structure, scientific research and innovation, cooperation and exchange. On the process of completing the Initial Self-Evaluation Report (iSER), the school intends to take advantage of the opportunity of AACSB accreditation to improve the teaching and management level, and to make contributions to the sustainable development of the school and the university.